The curtain of the ACC 2018 Asia Cup will be raised with the Group-B match of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates today.

The 50-over match, a day-night affair, will begin at BST 5.30pm. Star Sports Network will live telecast the match from the ground where a couple of new pitches have been built on the eve of the fourteenth edition.

Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are grappling with injuries ahead of their game of the Asia Cup in Dubai.

For Bangladesh, iconic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan needs a surgical operation on his left little finger but has pushed it back till after the Asia Cup. Hard-hitting opener Tamim Iqbal has a swollen right ring finger and off-spinner Nazmul Islam Apu has an injury in his bowling hand.

Despite their injury concern, Bangladesh headed to Dubai for the Asia Cup few days earlier of the meet to dovetail with the weather and condition.

Sri Lanka on the other hand sent Danuskha Gunathilaka home even before the start of the tournament with a lower hand problem. Shehan Jayasuriya included in place of Gunathilaka after Dinesh Chandimal, who was out with a finger injury.

Despite all these drawbacks, there is a fair bit of excitement around Dubai (and Abu Dhabi, the other venue for the tournament) especially among the migrant workforces in the UAE is expected to be at the venues in force. They all will expect a great contest to start off with.

Bangladesh come into the tournament on the back of a 2-1 series win over the West Indies in the Caribbean Islands, while Sri Lanka’s lost their last five-match home series against South Africa. But they will have some momentum after having won the last two games of that series.

If recent bilateral history is anything to pass by, the team currently coached by Chandika Hathurusingha thrashed the team formerly coached by the same man twice on the trot to win the triangular series in Dhaka in January.

The Bangladesh boys, however, had their revenge in the Nidahas Trophy against the hosts, and come into this tournament as the higher-ranked of the two teams.

Bangladesh have picked a full-strength side with the cream players- Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim along with Mustafizur Rahman- be all there.

With the exit of Chandimal, Sri Lanka can’t quite make the same claim, but their squad looks enough stronger on papers too. Angelo Mathews has tremendous experience and class, qualities that aren’t lacking in the core of Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Suranga Lakmal or the returning Lasith Malinga either.

The return of Malinga, indeed, will boost them in the lead-up to the event though the paceman not having played any international cricket since September last year. But despite the presence of Lakmal and Malinga, Akila Dananjaya, the off-spinner with a big bag of tricks, could well be the frontman of the bowling attack on the Dubai slowish tracks.

With Afghanistan- the third team in the group, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will attempt to make a good start to the tournament and make sure so that they don’t fall behind in the contest for the Super Four. For that, they need a big performance up front.